Allied Telesis @ Yokota Rocks/Sucks

We have not done one of these in a while so it is about time to see where we are with the status of AAFES sponsored Allied Telesis services at Yokota.

Has Allied Telesis's services met your expectations for quality services at reasonable prices?

• The services is poor and I am paying more than is reasonable. (63%, 39 Votes)
• The service is good, but the price is higher than I would like. (18%, 11 Votes)
• They are awesome and the price is reasonable! (13%, 8 Votes)
• The service is poor, but the prices is reasonable. (6%, 4 Votes)

Total Voters: 62

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All our previous polls have shown that Allied Telesis services have left much to be desired, but as time goes along, we are hoping that we see a trend change, though it remains unlikely from the way things look.  Allied Telesis has yet to roll our Triple Play Services as they still advertise within the BX.  When we approached the local manager about this negligent fact, he stated that there are triple play services available, but in a totally different definition than what is advertised on Allied Telesis’s own website or within their proposed capabilities when the contract was being awarded. 

Allied Telesis IP Triple Play

We are unaware of what the current status of the AAFES contract is considering the last attempt we made to gather the remaining data resulted in a $5K bill being e-mailed to us if we still wanted to have said data.  Yep, you read that right.  Apparently we hit a nerve and though they exceeded their allotted time frame, they have chosen to hammer us w/ a large bill instead of hammering the contractor who continues to essentially steal $’s from the customers of Yokota for services that are not on par with what had been advertised at the onset of the contract.  Its a shame.  While we have cancelled our open requests for FOIA data from AAFES the fight is not over and we will continue to request information from them as we feel the need to.

Ever wonder where your "Dividened" goes?  AAFES contractor Resolute Partners has paid upwards of $380K over last 2 years to introduce legislation that AAFES hopes will result in being given absolute monopoly over "Unofficial Internet Services".

HR 5658 Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2009 contains the following language:

“The committee has learned that competition between morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) activities and the military exchange services to provide unofficial information services (such as internet access, internet cafes, recreational gaming, cable television, and wireless internet services), has become disruptive and counterproductive. The committee needs a better understanding of the status of the current situation, the circumstances and conditions that led to the current situation, and the requirements of regulations and law regarding the provision of such services on military installations and to military personnel residing off the installation. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to prohibit new competitions for unofficial information services to be undertaken after the date of enactment of this Act until the Secretary reviews the applicable regulations and laws, clarifies what constitutes unofficial information services, and defines the roles and functions of MWR activities and the military exchange systems in providing such information services. The committee directs the Secretary to report his findings, conclusions, and recommendations to the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the House Committee on Armed Services within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.”

The problems at Yokota are probably small compared to issues in other parts of the world, particularly in Barracks buildings in Europe and CONUS.   AAFES is striving to control the award of contracts on Army and Air Force installations worldwide for CATV, Voice over IP and Internet.   This will more than likely help further the existing monopoly on calling cards and switched telephone services.  Right now the way the AT contract is written there is still a possibility for the command MWR to work with a contractor to bring an alternative onto the installation.   If AAFES get’s their way over the next 30-60 days that will no longer even be an option.

*Submission made by loyal long time reader.  Our many thanks for your continued support!

Much to our surprise, we have discovered that the petition request AAFES enforce the provisions of the contract and make good on the promises to the Yokota community continues to draw signatures from all around Yokota.  It just goes to show that as AAFES has stood solidly by their contractor, that the community continues to have doubt at the reasonableness of the services rendered.

AAFES plans to offer their sponsored Internet services at other installations has been put on hold in the mean time as it is currently stuck in House Armed Services committee.  Apparently all IT initiatives similar as AAFES concept has also been put on hold as well.  There was rumor that MWR wanted to take a stab at providing those services vs. allowing AAFES to continue their operations as they did such a bang up job in Korea, which I hear is still having problems to this day.

Please continue to tell your friends about our site and let them read and decide for themselves whether or not AAFES and Allied Telesis have lived up to their side of the bargain.  Promises were made and few have been kept.  Is it fair to expect the community to continue to pay higher costs than US military installations around us for the same or lesser services?

I know we are all glad to have the services we do, as there is little other choice, but that does not entitle anyone to expect the community to accept what ever hits the plate, after all, AAFES serves the best customers in the world…right?

Wonder if there will be an AAFES employees deposed for the pending IP Triple countersuit against Allied Telesis.  We have been hearing that AT still owes SAIC and American Engineering Company to the tune of $3M+ and perhaps payments have not been rolling in as regularly as they wanted.  We keep hearing AAFES saying that Allied Telesis continues to meet their obligations from month to month, but we also heard that AAFES didn’t know the phone services were going to be cut off, though I have actually seen mail sent to AAFES representatives indicating that course of action if payment was not made. 

Interesting times to say the least.  Be A Part of the Solution, sign our petition.